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Nerdy Photo in Vista DVDs Thwarts Disk Pirates
maximus1 writes "Microsoft says that the tiny photo on the Windows Vista Business Edition installation disks is an anti-piracy feature. The tiny photo of three grinning men — less that 1 mm in size — is one of several images incorporated into the hologram's design intended to make it harder to replicate a Vista DVD, according to Nick White on Microsoft's Vista team blog. 'The real story is interesting, but conspiracy theorists will be disappointed to learn that it is not the result of a deliberate attempt to deceive,' White wrote."
...would Vista be pirated less or more?
My English teacher once told me that two positives don't make a negative. Two words for her: Yeah, right.
that they are supposed t look for that to see of the copy they have is legit?
And it only assumes the buyer cares.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
For the majority of slashdotters that don't have a Vista DVD and a magnifying glass sitting on their desk, the engadget article has pictures.
Then, if the disk is illegally copied, they send the soul to Microsoft Hell. And if the disk is genuine, the soul goes to Microsoft Heaven.
... if I worked on the 'Vista' team I sure wouldn't want my picture printed on the DVD. What if someone recognized me on the street? Or in prison?? Or on /.???
The problem is that when I got my Vista upgrade discs through Dell for systems bought just before Vista was released, I don't have pretty hologram discs like that at all. I have just plain printed Dell labeled junk that anybody could counterfeit.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
Microsoft is more worried about the large-scale pirates - the ones that sell the disks to unwitting consumers, either standalone or as part of a new PC. This would allow them to more easily show that the disks themselves are counterfeit.
First off, nerds like us are the ones who pirate stuff in the first place. Second, if the image is so small, which user is going to see it, and if the user cannot see it, then claims of amnesty are theoretically possible. Third, due to the traditionally nonintimidating nature of the nerd, what pirate who sees the image will think and stop what they are doing? It seems that Microsoft demonstrates its foolishness through oversight and arrogance once again. Though, the whole idea is quite funny for the rest of us!
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Real story
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This isn't an anti-piracy measure, Microsoft is actually pretty upset about it. They don't like easter eggs because it makes them look unprofessional. If they find the guys that did this, they will probably be fired.
NewslilySocial News. No lolcats allowed.
... they didn't use this one.
It only takes one customer (or test buyer) to spot a counterfeit and provide information allowing the counterfieter to be traced.
Plain pirates who do nothing to disguise what they are selling as legit may do some damage but buisness customers are easilly scared away from them by the threat of audits, counterfieers OTOH can sell at a much higher price to buisness customers taking sales directly from MS.
note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
The pirate copy I bought in here in Beijing had these security features:
;)
1. Plastic sleeve
2. No box
3. Burned CD with "Vista 32 Eng" written in Sharpie on the front.
And it works great. Even came with the guys phone number in case I had problems applying the validation hacks.
If youre going to buy a pirate version what do you care? I have seen the nicer versions (with fake box et. al.) but trust me, no one is fooling themselves into thinking that they are getting a $400 program for ten bucks.
But my even more ghetto pirate version only cost $5 and it came with Office 2007 as well (which employed the same counter measures)
---- The real Slashdot is still here. You just have to browse at -1 to read the comments.
So does anyone have a torrent of this hologram? The Vista I have really needs it.
Dude, for most of us Slashdot might as well be the planet. So shut up and (sudo) get me a sandwich!
That's not a nerdy photo.
If there were really serious, THIS should have been the embedded image.
REAL pirates primarily care about: Can I SAIL it and get away?
There isn't a lot of negative reaction to Vista.
Dell had to revert back to selling XP due to customer demand. Many poles, published on many sites, indicate that the business world is nonplussed with Vista and many have no plans to migrate over. This includes our shop that runs all XP on the desktop and Linux on the servers only.
Many, many people are not interested in Vista, particularly since it won't run a lot of popular software. By the time you can't get support for XP, we will have already migrated to either OS/X or Linux. There IS a lot of negative reaction to Vista. The average gamer or grandma may not care because it is their only choice, but many of us will stick with XP until a better choice comes along. I run IT and I haven't bothered installing it, although I can for free. Won't run all my hardware and software, is buggy as hell, so why would I?
What really matters: More people are trying to pirate XP than Vista. When people won't even STEAL a product, I would consider that a negative reaction to it.
Tequila: It's not just for breakfast anymore!
In an even smaller spot, this picture was found...
Will cracked versions feature a pasty white buttocks of the nerd that cracked it?
Someone hates these cans.
My sister's friend's brother's girlfriend has a cousin that went to china and said she saw them throwing out the vista cds and pirating the clamshells.
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